Apparatus and method for onboard stereoscopic inspection of vehicle tires

ABSTRACT

An autonomous and non-autonomous vehicle tire imaging and inspection system and methods thereof installed onboard a vehicle providing frequent status for inner and outer tire sidewalls, tire tread wear and tread depth, recorded in memory, transmitted to an onboard diagnostics unit, displayed on a dashboard and optionally transmitted to a network. Autonomous and non-autonomous vehicle vehicles may require passing a safety compliance inspection before driving and receive an insurance compliance approval to operate said vehicles.

REFERENCE TO PRIORITY APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application62/964,230 filed on Jan. 22, 2020 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD OF VEHICLETIRE AND VEHICLE TIRE SIDEWALL IMAGING, INSPECTION AND TIRE STATUSDISPLAY” incorporated herein by reference in entirety and claims thebenefit of U.S. provisional application 65/051,380 filed on Jul. 14,2020 entitled “APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ONBOARD STEREOSCOPIC INSPECTIONOF VEHICLE TIRES” incorporated herein by reference in entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to the field of imageprocessing, vehicle displays, onboard diagnostics, and communicationssystems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The background relates to systems, and methods of vehicle tire imaging,computerized inspection. vehicle status display, self-driving,autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles and notification thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A three-dimensional, onboard stereoscopic imaging and inspectionapparatus and methods, providing vehicle tire status for inner and outertire sidewalls, tire tread wear, and tire tread depth, recorded,displayed on a vehicle dashboard and external communications thereof.

An onboard vehicle stereo vision tire inspection and diagnosticsprovides a substantial safety feature. As will be described infra, theinner tire sidewall warnings, and the diagnostics to identify safetyviolations provide alerts for tire damage, not always visible from acurbside view. Furthermore, human inspection of vehicle tires is lessfrequent for self-driving, autonomous vehicles as no driver is readilyavailable for a daily check, or a human daily check is costly. Thesystem can provide daily or real-time monitoring of tire status.

In general, in a first aspect, the invention features an apparatuscomprising at least one stereoscopic imaging unit (SIU) configured tocouple with a vehicle tire and operative to capture a plurality ofthree-dimensional tire tread image pairs, a plurality ofthree-dimensional outer tire sidewall image pairs, and a plurality ofthree-dimensional inner tire sidewall image pairs, an image processingcode operative to process the plurality of three-dimensional tire treadimage pairs, the plurality of three-dimensional outer tire sidewallimage pairs, and the plurality of three-dimensional inner tire sidewallimage pairs for a tire inspection and a detection of tire conditiondefects, at least one image processor and hardware control unit (IPHWCU)operative to store and run an image processing code to process theplurality of three-dimensional tire tread image pairs, the plurality ofthree-dimensional outer tire sidewall image pairs and the plurality ofthree-dimensional inner tire sidewall image pairs for the tireinspection and the detection of tire condition defects, a programinstruction code operative to run the IPHWCU and host the imageprocessing code, wherein the program instruction code provides hardwarecircuit interfaces drivers to communicate with the SIU and otherinterface circuits, a physical transmission media operative to couplewith the at least one SIU on a first distal end and operative to couplewith the at least one IPHWCU on a second distal end for a transmissionof image pairs and a code configured to execute a service request uponthe detection of tire condition defects, wherein the service requesttriggers a vehicle tire maintenance operation.

The invention provides a method of imaging and inspection of vehicletire treads and sidewalls comprising the steps of capturing a sidewallas a first three-dimensional image pair and operative to transfer thefirst three-dimensional image pair to at least one IPHWCU, capturing aninner sidewall as a second three-dimensional image pair and operative totransfer the second three-dimensional image pair to at least one IPHWCU,capturing a tread as a third three-dimensional image pair and operativeto transfer the third image three-dimensional image pair to at least oneIPHWCU, processing said first three-dimensional image pair, said secondthree-dimensional image pair and said third three-dimensional image pairin at least one IPHWCU using image processing software for inspectingtires; and detecting tire condition defects in said firstthree-dimensional image pair, said three-dimensional second image pairand said third three-dimensional image pair,

The present invention may embody a system, apparatus, method, computerprogram product or any combination thereof. The invention may take theform of an entire hardware aspect, an entire software aspect (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc) or an aspect combiningsoftware and hardware aspects, referred to as a circuit, module, orsystem. This invention may take the form of a computer program productembodied in any tangible medium of expression, having computer-usableprogram code embodied in the medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures illustrate various objects and features. Some objects orfeatures may be exaggerated to show details of components where thedrawings are not to scale. Any measurements or specifications shown inthe figures are illustrative and are not restrictive. Figures may showcorresponding elements by repeating reference numbers and numerals.Identical or similar elements may show the same or similar referencenumerals as various aspects and features when useful to combine. Theaccompanying drawings describe various examples concerning theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram illustrating a four-tire vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a high-level block diagram illustrating a six-tire vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a high-level block diagram illustrating stereoscopic imagingunit components thereof.

FIG. 4 is a high-level block diagram illustrating example integration ofstereoscopic imaging unit and image processing and hardware controlunit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a tire sidewall and a top tire tread.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example pixel-by-pixelalgorithm for defect detection.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram for cascade classifier training utilizingOpenCV for defect detection.

FIG. 8 is a high-level block diagram illustrating example imageprocessing and hardware control unit components thereof.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating object detection.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a camera calibration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, a high-level block diagram illustrates afour-tire vehicle. System 100 represents a wheeled vehicle comprisingfour tires. The example shows four tires, but the system can support avehicle of any plurality of tires. Each tire 102 has at least one SIU300 to capture at least one three-dimensional tire image pair per tireside wall and at least one three-dimensional tire image pair per tiretread. SIU 300 couples 115 to the tire 102 by a field of view (FOV)parameter determined by the required optics. The tire's outer sidewall104, corresponding to the example of two tires mounted on one axle,faces towards the curb/sidewalk on a first side of the vehicle and facestowards the street on the second corresponding second side of thevehicle. The corresponding tire's inner sidewalls face each other andmount on distal axle ends. An axle with four tires comprises, two outertire sidewalls and six inner tire sidewalls. Each axle has a maximum oftwo out tire sidewalls and is true for an axle with six, eight, ten ormore tires.

System 100 further comprises at least one image IPHWCU 120 providingimage processing resources and memory required to analyze the capturedimage pairs. IPHWCU receives image pairs for processing, inspects theimage pairs for tire damage, wear, and analysis of defects. System 100further comprises a display 130, an optional onboard diagnostics (OBD)140, direct current voltages 136, optional radio frequency (RF)communications 134. A plurality of communications buses couples theIPHWCU to an SIU-bus 116, a vehicle control unit bus 125, a display-bus132, an RF-bus 138, and an OBD-bus 142.

The SIU-bus 116, vehicle control unit bus 125, display-bus 132, RF-bus138, and OBD-bus 142 consist of a physical transmission media and eachare selected from at least one member of a physical transmission mediagroup comprising a single wire, a parallel bus, at least onetwisted-pair, fiber-optic, IEEE 1394 or MIL-STD-1773. The physicaltransmission media are operative to couple with at least one SIU 300 ona first distal end and operative to couple with the at least one IPHWCUon a second distal end and operative to couple using a display-bus 132with a display 130 on a third distal end and communicative to couplewith an radio frequency (RF) communications 134 on a fifth distal end.

A vehicle bus protocol is operative and communicatively coupled witheach physical transmission media a SIU-bus 116, a vehicle control unit125, a display-bus 132, an RF-bus 138, and an OBD-bus 142. The vehiclebus protocol is communicative to couple with the at least one SIU 300 ona first distal end and communicative to couple with the at least oneIPHWCU 120 on a second distal end, communicative to couple with adisplay 130 on a third distal end, communicative to couple with an OBD140 on a fourth distal end and communicative to couple with an radiofrequency (RF) communications 134 on a fifth distal end. There may beone or more vehicle bus protocols operative on the vehicle.

A vehicle bus protocol refers to at least one member of a vehicle busprotocol group comprising the following protocols: A²B, AFDX, ARINC 429,Bluetooth, Byteflight, Controller Area Network (CAN), Cortex AHB. CortexAPB, Cortex AHX, D2B, FlexRay, BUS [2], IDB-1394, IEBus,Inter-Integrated Circuit (I²C), ISO 9141-1/-2, J1708 and J1587, J1850,J1939, ISO 11783, J1939, ISO 11783, Keyword Protocol 2000, LocalInterconnect Network (LIN), MOST, Multi-Function Vehicle Bus, simpleparallel bus protocol, Train Communication Network IEC 61375, SerialPeripheral Interface (SPI), SMARTWIREX, VAN, HDBaseT automotiveprotocols, power-line communication, and Universal Serial Bus (USB).

In one aspect, the system is operative to communicate according to theIntelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). In one aspect, vehicles, androadside units operate using dedicated short-range communications (DSRC)devices operative in the 5.9 GHz band with a 75 MHz bandwidth.

A power supply circuit outputs one or more direct-current voltages (DC)136 to system electronics meeting all operating voltage levels systemrequirements. The input to the power supply circuit is operative tocouple with the vehicle battery, often a standard 12 volts automobilebattery or 24 volts truck battery. The power supply circuit comprisesdirect-current battery voltage to direct-current switching step-upcircuitry and/or step-down circuitry from a vehicle battery. Other powersupply circuits may comprise linear voltage regulators, Schottky diodes,and resistive voltage dividers.

A vehicle display 130 is communicative to couple via a display-bus 132with the at least one IPHWCU 120. In one aspect, display 130 comprises aone or more vehicle dashboard displays, or other visual indicators. Avisual indicator is selected from a group comprising a (1)Light-Emitting Diode (LED); (2) incandescent lamp; (3) fluorescent lamp;(4) active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED); (5) In PlaneSwitching displays; (6) LCD screen; or similar. The visual indicator maybe steady, blinking, and can further be used to illuminate a part of thedashboard.

The vehicle display(s) 130, displays warnings for tire conditionabnormalities, tire damage, or tire wear. Displaying inner sidewallwarnings is a method to alert vehicle operators for tire problems notalways visible from a curbside view and is a substantial safety feature.These tread and sidewall warnings comprise a group of the following tirecondition defects: (1) sidewall bulge from broken cords inside a tire;(2) wheel misalignment; (3) tire zipper failure; (4) bulging; (5) centertire wear; (6) shoulder tire wear; (7) feathering; (8) flat spot wear;(9) cupped wear; (10) chunks of missing rubber; (11) deep abrasions fromhitting curbs; (12) various cuts in the rubber; (13) cracks in therubber; (14) sharp object puncturing the tire, (15) one-side wear; and(16) other tire failures. The object puncturing the tire may be a nail,screw, sharp metal, glass, sharp plastic, or other material capable ofdamaging the tire. The term “rubber” refers to natural rubber, syntheticrubber, or mixtures and additives thereof.

In one aspect, the vehicle display 130, can suggest a specific service.Flat spot wear detection may trigger a “Check Brakes” warning and a“Replace Tire” warning. Cupped wear detection may trigger the vehicledisplay 130 to check for a worn shock absorber or check for a faultysuspension system. Detection of one-side wear triggers a vehicle displaywarning for a vehicle alignment, springs, and ball joints check.

One or more vehicle display 130, provide vehicle owners and/or fleetoperators both information and confidence to request a specific vehicleservice. The warnings provide feedback for proper vehicle maintenance,improving safety by repairing or replacing tires when required. Theservice request triggers a service request for a tire maintenance,wherein the tire maintenance comprises: (1) repair; (2) replacement; (3)rotation and (3) inflation. It also boosts vehicle owners and/or fleetoperator confidence in reducing the fear of performing unnecessaryrepairs, as shown later in the disclosure. In one implementation, thevehicle display 130, can provide warnings to owners and operators ofeighteen-wheeler vehicles, also known as a semi-tractor-trailer truck.The multi-tire mounting on semi-tractor-trailers impedes the view ofinner sidewalls for inspection. Defects and damages may also occurduring operation of the vehicle. These can occur when driving overobjects protruding above the road, or below the road, (e.g., hittingpotholes), or driving off-road. Damage to the tires may occur withoutthe knowledge to the vehicle operator and the invention's automaticinspection may prevent serious accidents when early detection of tirewear or damage occurs. Future safety statistics may show the presentinvention reduces vehicle accidents.

In one aspect, the radio frequency (RF) communications 134 transmitstire status to a vehicle inspection station during periodic,semi-annual, or annual checks. These checks may comprise the emissionsand safety testing required by federal, state, or other governmentalauthorities. In one implementation, is the transmission of tire statusinformation using radio or cellular circuitry of Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G or 5Gtechnologies, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), and/orworldwide interoperability for microwave access. Bluetooth. In oneaspect, transmitting tire status information uses a universal serial busUSB. Further advantages for self-driving, autonomous vehicles occurwhere human inspection of vehicle tires is less frequent as no driver isavailable for a daily check. An automatic tire inspections system forautonomous vehicles is cost effective compared to the labor costs ofchecking the tires daily. Self-driving, autonomous vehicles send tirestatus information and warning messages to owner and/or fleetmaintenance via the radio frequency communications.

In one aspect, transmitting tire status information to a network as acomponent of a vehicle fleet management procedure, where autonomousvehicles must pass a safety compliance inspection before driving and/orreceive an insurance compliance approval to proceed. In some cases,non-autonomous vehicles must pass a safety compliance inspection beforedriving and/or receive an insurance compliance approval to proceed. Inone implementation, leasing fleets must pass a safety complianceinspection before driving and/or receive an insurance complianceapproval to proceed. In one implementation, a specified time of severaldays, a week or two weeks may be given to complete a repair or service.In one implementation, only subsets of defects can cause insurancerevocation or suspension. In some cases, a tow truck may be called anddriving not permitted. According to some aspects, a privately owned andmanaged fleet of vehicles must pass a safety compliance inspectionbefore driving and/or receive an insurance compliance approval toproceed. In some cases, this fleet may be owned by a federal agency, aU.S. State, county, or local governments. In some cases, the fleet maybe owned by a corporate entity.

Referring to FIG. 8, a high-level block diagram illustrates exampleimage processing and hardware control unit components thereof. Thecomputer-readable program instruction code may execute entirely orpartly on an IPHWCU 120. In one aspect, processors 121 execute thecomputer-readable program instruction code by using state information ofthe computer-readable program instruction code to personalize theelectronic circuitry, to perform aspects of the present invention. TheIPHWCU 120 architecture may be homogenous or heterogeneous for parallelprocessing, as clusters, and/or as one or more multi-core processor(s).The data storage 122 may include one or more non-transitory persistentstorage devices, for example, a hard drive disk (HDD), a Solid-StateDisk (SSD), a flash array for the storage of program instruction code160, image processing code 164, training classifier 165, training code166, captured image pairs 167, positive images 168, negative images 169,calibration code and data 170, and other data deemed required. Datastorage 122 may further include one or more networked storage resourcesaccessible over the network(s) through the network interface circuit 128to a network attached storage (NAS), a storage server, cloud storage,and/or the like. Duse one or more volatile memory devices for temporarystorage of program instruction code 160, image processing code 164,training classifier 165, training classifiers 166 and/or data. An IPHWCUmay execute one or more software modules, for example, a process, ascript, an application, an agent, a utility. Software module executioncomprises a plurality of program instruction code, stored in anon-transitory medium. In one aspect, the IPHWCU 120 may include and/orintegrate radio frequency (RF) communications 134.

The program instruction code 160 may include a software operating systemrunning Unix, Linux, Android, Windows, and/or other embedded operatingsystems. Also, the invention is operational in systems incorporatingvideo and still cameras, sensors, etc. such as found in automatedfactories, autonomous vehicles, in mobile devices such as tablets andsmart-phones, smart meters installed in the power grid and controlsystems for robot networks. The image processing code 164, trainingclassifier 165, training code 166, positive images 168, and negativeimages 169 is operational on these operating systems.

Code is a plurality of computer-executable instructions grouped intoprogram modules executed by the computer. Program modules compriseroutines, programs, objects, components, data structures to performspecific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In one aspect,distribution of the code on computing environments performs tasks byremote processing devices linked through a communications network. In adistributed computing environment, program modules may be in both localand remote computer storage media, including memory storage devices.

Data storage 122 is any combination of one or more computer-usable orcomputer-readable medium(s) is possible. The computer-usable orcomputer-readable medium may be, for example, but not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. Morespecific examples comprising a computer-readable medium includes: anelectrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computerdiskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a static randomaccess memory (SRAM), a dynamic random access memory, Synchronousdynamic random access memory (SDRAM), Double-Data-Rate SDRAM (DDRSDRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM or flash memory), an USB memory device, a portable compactdisk, a read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device. Acomputer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that cancontain or store the program for use by or with the instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device. A computer-readable medium isnot in the category of transitory signals, such as radio waves or otherpropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide,

Computing/processing devices loads, or mounts computer-readable programinstruction code 160 from a computer-readable storage medium using datastorage 122. In one aspect, an external computer, or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network loads, loads, or mountscomputer-readable program instruction code 160 from a computer-readablestorage medium. The network may comprise copper transmission cables,optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls,switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter cardor network interface in each computing/processing device receivescomputer-readable program instruction code from the network and forwardsthe computer-readable program instructions for storage in acomputer-readable storage medium within the respectivecomputing/processing device.

Computer program instruction code for carrying out operations of thepresent invention may be in any combination of one or more programminglanguages, including object-oriented programming language such as Java,C++, C # or the like, conventional procedural programming languages,such as the “C” programming language, and functional programminglanguages such as Prolog, Perl, and Python, machine code, assembler,image processing languages or scripts such as openCV, machine learninglanguages or programs such as Python, R, Matlab, Go, Julia, machinelearning tools such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Sci-kit Learn, Keras, or anyother suitable programming languages.

The program instruction code may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer mayconnect to the user's computer through radio frequency (RF)communications 134 and to the IPHWCU via the network interface circuit128 using any network protocol, including for example a local areanetwork (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), WLAN, WCDMA, WiMAX or mayconnect to an external computer for example, through the Internet usingan Internet Service Provider.

The computing device, referred to as a processor(s) 121, is operationalwith general-purpose, special-purpose and image processing computingsystem environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computingsystems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable foruse with the invention include comprises personal computers, servercomputers, cloud computing, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor, micro-controller or microcomputer-basedsystems, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) orfield-programmable gate array (FPGA) cores, digital signal processing(DSP) cores, Cortex-A8 processing core(s), Brisbane processing core(s),neural network (NN) processors, convolutional neural network processors,(CNN), graphics and image processing integrated circuits and boards,single-board computer (SBC), graphics processing unit (GPU), Nvidiagraphics board, Habana Labs (Intel now), Goya Inference Processor,Qualcomm processors, Rockchip RK1808 neural network processing units,Hailo neural network processors, Habana Labs neural network processors,Intel neural network processors, SambaNova configurable processors, PCIecards, VME boards, Raspberry Pi boards, Arduino boards, Beagle boards,network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computingenvironments that include any of the above systems or devices, andsimilar others.

In one aspect, the IPHWCU 120 is communicative to couple via an onboarddiagnostic interface circuit 129 with a vehicle OBD 140. The OBD isoperative to receive vehicle tire inspection results. In one aspect,non-volatile memory in the OBD stores tire inspection results. Accordingto one aspect of the invention, the OBD 140 configuration receives datafrom one or more IPHWCU 120 for generation of one or more diagnosticcodes associated with one or more vehicle tire inspections. For example,the OBD 140 may comprise a diagnostic system compliant with one or morevehicle diagnostic standards, such as OBD-II. In such cases, the OBD 140may provide a plurality of diagnostic codes. The OBD may provide one ormore manufacturer specific diagnostic codes comprising a standardizedformat. The OBD-II standard defines example standardized diagnosticcodes where manufacturer specific diagnostic codes comprise a specifiedformat, such as <X><N1><N2><N3><N4>.

In one aspect, non-volatile memory in the IPHWCU using data storage 122saves tire inspection results. In one aspect, tire inspection resultscouple to a display 130 via a display interface circuit 127. Accordingto one aspect of the invention, the IPHWCU 120 is operative to triggerother indicators (e.g., dashboard lights) to warn a vehicle operator ofpotentially dangerous or problematic conditions derived from tireinspection results. According to another aspect of the invention, IPHWCU120 may comprise and/or integrate an OBD 140. In one aspect, the IPHWCU120 is communicative to couple with other vehicle control units 133 viaa OBD 140 interface and physical medium 125. The vehicle control units133 may comprise steering control units, generic vehicle computer units,transmission control units and any vehicle electronics required tocommunicate with the IPHWCU 120. Vehicle control units may act as amaster controller for the vehicle where the IPHWCU 120 acts as aperipheral device.

The IPHWCU 120 is operable to couple with each SIU 300 via the SIU-bus116. In one aspect, the IPHWCU interface to the SIU-bus 116 comprises aHDBaseT signaling. The HDBaseT may comprise a Valens automotiveintegrated circuit operative to communicate with SIU 300 electronics viaa PCIe interface on a second distal end. The Valens circuitry supportsgigabit Ethernet over a twisted pair cable on a first distal end andinterfaces to electronic circuitry on the second a distal end via a PCIeinterface bus. Present Valens semiconductor offerings comprise thefollowing part numbers: VA6000, VA608A, and VA6080.

In a best mode, the IPHWCU does not use real-time streaming. The amountof processor resources and processor cycles required for non-real-timestreaming is negligible compared to the time between inspecting thetires. In one aspect, a non-real-time image processor couples to eachSIU where there is no image processing time requirement for real-timestreaming. Leveraging a minimum amount of processing power to analyze afew captured stereo image pairs for the longest time-period possiblemaximizes high volume production efficiency and lowers manufacturingcost savings. The phrase “time period” in this paragraph defines thetime between inspecting tires and may occur on average once per day, orseveral times per day. Tire inspections can occur each time the vehiclestarts with other vehicle execute built-in self-tests. An additionaladvantage of integrating the SIU with the image processor is one modulecan support generic vehicle types using a programmable vehicle busprotocol. In some cases, the physical transmission media mounts on asecond printed circuit board, which may swap and functions as an adapterto match vehicle cabling.

Referring to FIG. 2, a high-level block diagram illustrates a six-tirevehicle. System 200 and System 100 share many blocks in common. System200 further comprises dual tire block 204, illustrating pairs of tires102 mounted on distal axle ends. There figure does not show an axleconnecting the tires, and its inclusion is self-understood. Each dualtire block 204 further illustrates a pair of tires and the correspondingsix inner side walls facing each other. System 200 may comprise eitheran even or odd number of tires on each distal axle end. 204 may compriseat least two or more tires. Therefore, it is possible to have a systemwith six tires on each axle, thus having an odd number of tires on eachdistal axle end. It is also possible to have eight or more tires on eachaxle where the corresponding number of SIUs will increase.

In one aspect, 204 comprises a single SIU mounted on a mechanicalmounting system operationally and visually coupled to a plurality oftires. The optics and mounting hardware 350 will guide one SIU per 204to support any plurality of tires, guiding the vision system usingmechanical movements 370 to capture image pairs of all the tiresidewalls and treads.

The electronic components comprising all the systems have an operationaltemperature range selected from a group specified as: (1) industrial:−40° C. to 85° C.; (2) automotive: −40° C. to 125° C.; (3) extendedindustrial: −40° C. to 85° C.; or (4) military: −55° C. to 125° C. Inone aspect, a system is IP67 compliant for outdoor operation and waterresistance. In another aspect, a system is IP68 compliant system foroutdoor operation and water resistance.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a high-level block diagram illustrates astereoscopic imaging unit. SIU 300 comprises at least two image sensorsor cameras 310 and associated optics and mechanical mounting hardware350, a stereo image sensor interface bus 312 and a stereo image sensorinterface circuit 314 (a.k.a. camera interface circuit) operative tocouple with at least one IPHWCU 120 via a SIU-bus 116. Lighting device360, mechanical movements 370, and accelerometer 372 couple to thestereo image sensor interface circuit 314 via 300-bus 374. FIG. 3 alsoincludes optional mechanical movements 370, operative to aim the stereoimage sensor. In one aspect, optional mechanical movements 370 thatcouples to an optional accelerometer 372.

The SIU 300 is a stereo camera unit comprising image sensors and stereovision interface circuitry. In one aspect, the stereo image interfacecircuit interface circuitry 314 may comprise an intellectual property(IP) core for an FPGA. After testing and system verification, an FPGA toASIC conversion provides an alternative for a mass production and lowercosts. In another aspect of the invention, SIU 300 uses a design kitsuch as the Raspberry Pi and Arducam project depth mapping on Arducamstereo camera HAT with OpenCV using the OV5647 stereo camera board.Present Nerian Vision Technologies stereo vision modules with real-timestreaming are too expensive. According to another aspect of theinvention, SIU 300 uses the FPGA technology of Karmin 3D Stereo Camera.Another aspect modifies the Dan Strother verilog based FPGA stereo coreproject, freely available under a 3-clause BSD license. A drawback ofoff-the-shelf (OTS) stereo camera products is the high cost of real-timestreaming. A low-cost solution is desirable and attainable by removingthe real-time streaming support. Removal of real-time streaming maylower the overall hardware silicon area, thereby reducing the totalhardware costs.

In one implementation, the SIU creates a stereo image by capturing animage pair from the two image sensor/cameras. The image pair consists ofa right sided image, and a left sided image. A right sided image, and aleft sided image combine in the SIU to create a stereo image, also knownas stereo vision. SIU transfers the stereo image to the IPHWCU for imageprocessing, defect recognition, and character recognition. The phrase“stereo image” also refers to a three-dimensional image pair.

In one implementation, the SIU captures two images from the two imagesensor/cameras. These two images are a right sided image, and a leftsided image. In another aspect, the SIU transfers the right sided image,and the left sided image to the IPHWCU, where the IPHWCU combines theright sided image and the left sided image into a stereo image. A rightsided image and a left sided image are also referred to as athree-dimensional image pair. The phrase “three-dimensional image pair”can refer to both before and after stereo combining.

SIU is operative according to the following steps of first capturing anouter sidewall as a first three-dimensional image pair and operative totransfer the first three-dimensional image pair to at least one IPHWCU.Then a next step is capturing an inner sidewall as a secondthree-dimensional image pair and operative to transfer the secondthree-dimensional image pair to at least one IPHWCU. A next step iscapturing a tread as a third three-dimensional image pair and operativeto transfer the third image three-dimensional image pair to at least oneIPHWCU. Then processing the first three-dimensional image pair, thesecond three-dimensional image pair and the third three-dimensionalimage pair in at least one IPHWCU using image processing software forinspecting tires. In one aspect, the SIU transfers the right sided imageand left sided image to the IPHWCU for processing and creation of astereo image. Last, detecting tire condition defects in said firstthree-dimensional image pair, said three-dimensional second image pairand said third three-dimensional image pair.

The at least two image sensors 310 comprise CMOS or sCMOS image sensors.Technological advances do not preclude using other image sensors. Thestereo image sensor bus 312 may comprise: (1) a parallel signal bus; (2)MIPI alliance camera serial interfaces (CSI); (3) MIPI CSI-2; (4) PCIe;or (5) other differential signal bus. The stereo image sensor interfacecircuit 314 comprises electronic circuitry operative and communicativeto couple with image sensor components between various system blocks.The stereo image sensor interface circuit, 314, may include amicro-controller, field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other similarembedded devices for interfacing electronics. Some of many examples ofCMOS sensors are ON Semiconductor AS01xx, AR14xxx, ARO23SRxx. Otherexamples are available from ST Miroelectronics which offers many CMOSimage sensors.

An optic and mounting hardware 350 can connect 352 to the image sensor310 for focus and image capture enhancements. The optics comprises lensand mounting hardware for three-dimensional image capture. According tosome cases, the mounting hardware 350 may connect 355 to mechanicalmovements 370, allowing the positioning and aiming of the image sensors.The mounting hardware can have mechanical movements, 370, comprising anepicyclic train allowing for adjusting the angular image capture of thetreads and/or sidewalls. In one aspect, the mechanical movements 370 isa rectilinear slide motion whereby a screw guides the image sensor 310to a more favorable FOV position. In one aspect, the mechanicalmovements 370 uses a wheel to produce rotary motion got from circularmotion of a screw for guiding the image sensors. In another aspect, astepper motor may control, or a direct-current motor enables themechanical movements 370. The IPHWCU and/or an embedded applicationusing a micro-controller in the SIU provides control and signalingcommands over bus 374 to the movement motors via the stereo image sensorinterface circuit 314. In one aspect, the mechanical movements 370includes an optics lens cover to protect the optics of 350 from dirt,grease, grime, and filth. The movable mechanism closes to cover the lensby default and opens to expose the optics during image capture. The lenscovers should open for only the time required to capture image pairs.

In one aspect, the SIU 300 includes a plurality of two or more imagesensors. The SIU may include two, three, four, five, six or more imagesensors. In one aspect, the SIU uses three image sensors, where a leftsensor and middle sensor capture one sidewall, a right sensor, andcenter sensor captures a second sidewall and the left sensor and rightsensor capture the tire tread. In one aspect, the SIU 300 comprises twoimage sensors for the inner sidewall, two image sensors for the outersidewall and two image sensors for the top of the tire tread 550. In oneaspect, 204 illustrates a configuration of SIUs for dual/double tiresmounted on each distal end of an axle supporting semi-tractor typetrailer vehicles, various trucks, and other vehicle axles comprisingfour or more tires. In another alternative, mounting may comprise atleast three or more tires on each distal end of an axle, each tire witha corresponding SIU. Monitoring the status of tire sidewalls betweenadjacent tires is advantageous as inner tire sidewalls are not easilyvisible to the vehicle operator. These are the tire sidewalls facingeach under the vehicle and not the sidewalls facing away from thevehicle toward a sidewalk or another lane of the road. As autonomousself-driving vehicles become more widespread in the market, automatictire inspection, absent human drivers may become an insurance and/orregulatory safety requirement.

SIU 300 may include a lighting device 360 for illuminating the tiresduring image capture and is operative to couple with the at least oneSIU 300. Camera lighting devices may be a flash Bulb, a Led flash, or aninfrared light with focal-plane-shutter synchronization, flashintensity, and flash duration as required. The lighting may be steady orblinking. Stereo image interface circuit 314 provides signals to controlthe lighting device.

In one aspect, the SIU 300 may include an accelerometer 372 to measuresudden G-force when hitting a deep pothole, curb, or other objectcapable of damaging tires. The accelerometer outputs a signal via bus374 to the stereo image interface circuit 314 whereupon a reading of asubstantial “G” force above a substantial threshold triggers the SIU 300to start a tire inspection checking for tire damage. The inspection willcreate a call to begin a capture image event, wherein the configurationcaptures a plurality of three-dimensional tire tread image pairs, aplurality of three-dimensional outer tire sidewall image pairs and aplurality of three-dimensional inner tire sidewall image pairs toinspect the tires for damage from the substantial G-force and observeddefects. In one aspect, accelerometer connects to each shock absorber.In one aspect, the accelerometer connects to each tire. In one aspect,each accelerometer connects to a vehicle chassis point receptive toreceive the greatest force of shock, G-force applied against each tire.For a four-tire vehicle, there would be four accelerometers. For eachvehicle type, there is one accelerometer for each tire.

FIG. 4 shows a high-level block diagram illustrating example integrationof a stereoscopic imaging unit and image processing and hardware controlunit (SIU & IPHWCU). In one aspect, SIU 300 couples via SIU-bus 116 tothe IPHWCU 120 and integrate to become the SIU & IPHWCU 380 to provide aself-contained unit supporting each vehicle tire. SIU & IPHWCU 380interfaces to system device bus either in a point-to-point configurationor a daisy chain configuration. In a daisy chain configuration, SIU &IPHWCU, 380, are daisy chained one to another and only the last, orfirst SIU & IPHWCU 380 connects to the display, OBD, and RFcommunications unit. Display 130 couples to the SIU & IPHWCU via thedisplay bus 132. Radio frequency communications unit couples to the SIU& IPHWCU via the RF-bus 138 and couples to the OBD-bus 142. Directcurrent voltages 136 supplies voltages to all electronics throughout thesystem.

The SIU 300 may conform to an IP67 outdoors environmental specificationwhich offers protection against dust, water damage, and dirt. In anothercase, the SIU 300 may conform to the IP68 outdoors specification againstdust, dirt, and water damage to protect the optics. These specificationsprotect the electronics and optics against environmental damage.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a tire sidewall 500 view and a tiretread 550 front view. The SIU inspects the tire tread 550 usingthree-dimensional image processing techniques, and the system iscommunicative to couple with the vehicle display 130, and/or OBD.

In one example application, a tire tread depth is measured using 3Dimaging techniques as a percentage where: (1) eight millimeter mm depthrepresents a new tire; (2) seven mm depth shows approximately,substantially a 15% worn tire; (3) six mm depth shows approximately a30% worn tire; (4) five mm depth shows approximately, substantially a50% worn tire; (5) four mm depth shows approximately, substantially a60% worn tire; (6) three mm depth shows about approximately,substantially an 80% worn tire; (7) two mm depth shows approximately,substantially a 95% worn tire; (8) and 1.6 mm depth shows a 100% worntire.

In one example, non-volatile memory stores three temporary files, file1,file2, and file3 store treadwear values, inner sidewall, and outersidewall wear analysis. A service log stores data with a time and datestamp for safety compliance documentation and insurance claims defensein the event of a car accident and/or negligence allegations. Thisimplementation disclosing three files to store information is notlimiting and is one application example.

In one aspect, the system conforms to the Automotive Safety IntegrityLevel (ASIL) safety requirements defined by the International StandardsOrganization (ISO) 26262. In one aspect, the system conforms to theAviation (ED-12/DO-178/DO-254).

In one aspect, a convolutional neural network (CNN) implements asupervised training mode, classifying the static object(s) detected inthe visual imagery data to pre-defined labels. The classifier(s) canidentify, and label target static objects depicted in the visual imagerydata, for example, specific tire sizes as listed on the side wallsaccording to industry codes.

Generating a classifier(s) training image set for the target staticobject requires recognizing specific imagery data, for example, sidewallbulge from broken cords inside a tire, wheel misalignment, tire zipperfailure, bulging, center tire wear, shoulder tire wear, feathering, flatspot wear, cupped wear, chunks of missing rubber, deep abrasions fromhitting curbs, various cuts, or cracks in the rubber, nails or screws intires, or other known tire failures common to the industry and/or thelike. To improve generalization and avoid over-fitting, the trainingimage set collects, constructs, adapts, augments and/or transforms topresent features of the static objects in various types, sizes, viewangles, colors and/or the like.

In one aspect, a support vector machine (SVM) and/or the like classifiesthe static object(s) detected in the visual imagery data to predefinedlabels. In one aspect, statistical pattern matching uses the system tostore the results of a plurality of products and plurality of defects,recognizing thresholds of acceptable minor deviations without flaggingerrors. In another aspect, template matching compares captured imagepairs with the image of perfect, non-defective image. The system firstlearns about all the correct attributes of a certain part of the itemand then assesses the quality of a produced item according to theestimated standards.

In one aspect, the system uses pattern matching, storing information ofboth the good and the bad tires, comparing, and contrasting the capturedtire pattern versus stored patterns, Feature matching by calculatingstereo disparity, identifies the range or depth including visual edgesin the stereo image pair. For example: detection of multiple featuresuses stereo disparity calculates each feature pair determining depth byinterpolation. In one aspect, block matching algorithms for estimatingdepth from stereo images include dividing each stereo pair of imagesinto pairs of blocks or windows and matching each pair of windows todetermine stereo disparity. Matching windows between pairs of stereoimages can include determining similarity between the windows.Determining similarity can include block matching using differentsimilarity measures using a sum squared differences equation.

Depth map estimation techniques use a pair of stereo images and requirestereo disparity calculations on a pixel-by-pixel basis along epipolarlines passing through both stereo images. Calculating stereo disparityrequires comparing each pixel from a first stereo image with the epilinefrom the second stereo image to determine a match and vice versa.Determining a match can include minimizing a cost or difference functionbetween the pixels. Determining the displacement of a pixel alongepipolar lines in stereo images can determine stereo disparity of thepixel. Disparity epipolar geometry, image rectification, calibrationtechniques and stereo matching strategies are explained in the reference“DISTANCE ESTIMATION FROM STEREO VISION: REVIEW AND RESULTS” Departmentof the Computer Engineering California State University, Sacramento bySarmad Khalooq Yaseen which is incorporated by reference. Depth accuracymeasurements are shown in the reference “Method for measuring stereocamera depth accuracy based on stereoscopic vision” by Mikko Kytö*,Mikko Nuutinen, Pirkko Oittinen, Aalto University School of Science andTechnology, Department of Media Technology, Otaniementie 17, Espoo,Finland which is incorporated by reference.

In another alternative, Deep Learning methods distinguish between tiretread 550 wear and side wear conditions. In one aspect, Deep Learningmethods distinguish between acceptable and safe inner and outer tiresidewalls versus a damaged inner and/or outer tire sidewall. In somecases, the system may implement TensorFlow object detection applicationprogramming interfaces. In other cases, the system may implement KerasDeep Learning software.

Computer program instruction code can implement or support each block ofthe flowchart illustrations, and/or block diagrams, and combinations ofblocks in the flowchart illustrations. Computer program instruction codeexecutes on a processor of a general-purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce amachine, such that the instruction code, which execute via the processorof the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, createmeans for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart,flow diagram, and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a flow diagram is shown illustrating an examplemethod of inspecting tire defects, tire damage, or excessive tire weardetection using an image processing software algorithm. A first step ofthe flow diagram deconstructs the incoming visual data into pixels andparses incoming pixels for generating structures of rows, columns, orframes of video data. (step 610). Next, check if more pixels areincoming for the structure (step 615). If the check does not receive thelast pixel of the structure, the method returns to step 610. If it isthe last pixel of the structure, the method continues to assess thepixels according to various parameters (step 620). In the followingstep, the method is comparing each pixel to a corresponding pixel in theimages data set (step 630). Comparing pixels continues until the lastpixel. This last pixel may be the last pixel of a frame, row, line, orother given quantity in a data structure. A first check counts todetermine if it reaches the last pixel (step 640). If it is not the lastpixel, the method returns to step 610. If it is the last pixel, themethod continues to validate the prediction by searching for the nearestimage in the data set (step 650). A second method check determines ifthe method finds the nearest image (step 660). According to one case,the method iterates a finite number of loops through the image data setusing a programmable value for the loop value. If it does not find thenearest image in step 660, the method returns to step 620 iteratingsearches and finding the nearest image in the data set. The method endswhen validating a match.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a flow diagram for cascade classifier trainingusing OpenCV is shown. A first step of the flow diagram creates a set ofbackground image samples (step 710). The image samples set comprises atext file corresponding to a JPEG image for each line of the text file.A file directory stores a set of background images pointed to by theimage samples text file. A design aim is for the background image samplesize to be greater than a training window size. Next, select a positiveimage in step (720). The method selects a positive image from a defect:such as sidewall bulge from broken cords inside a tire, wheelmisalignment, tire zipper failure, bulging, center tire wear, shouldertire wear, feathering, flat spot wear, cupped wear, chunks of missingrubber, deep abrasions from hitting curbs, various cuts, or cracks inthe rubber. Next, check for the last positive image (step 730). If it isnot the last positive image, the flow diagram returns to step 720. If itis the last positive image, the flow diagram continues to the generationof a training set by execution of the opencv createsamples utility (step740). In this step, use programmable arguments to generate a trainingset of PNG format images. The programmable arguments enlarge the set ofpositive samples of objects by rotating each sample object randomly.These rotations increase variations of the light intensity of pixels forthreshold by height, width, and background-color. Therefore, rotationangles of the sample objects in the x, y, and z directions are used toenlarge the set. Multiplication of each positive image by substantialpermutations increases the positive image data set. The range ofrandomness and number of permutations is programmable by the arguments.Next, the opencv_createsamples utility generates a test set of JPEGformat images using the specific training set arguments (step 750).Next, the Cascade Training uses the opencv_trainscascade application togenerate the classifiers (step 760) and thereafter the flow diagram forcascade classifier training ENDs.

Referring now to FIG. 9, the flow diagram shows an object detectionmethod. The first step checks the SIU calibration status (step 900), Ifnot, the method returns to the step 900 and performs a calibration. Ifcalibrated, the method continues to step 910 and captures a stereo tireimage. The image is then read into a processor (step 920). A secondcheck then determines if the image requires resizing (step 930). If itthe image does requires resizing, the flow diagram returns to step 920and loops until verifying the correct image. If not, the flow diagramcontinues to convert the image to gray scale (step 940). Then, theobject detector searches for a tire condition defect is executes, Ifyes, the method captures a stereo tire image of the defect (step 950).The flow diagram then executes a third check for the detection of a tirecondition defect (step 960). If a tire condition defect exists, the flowdiagram continues to create an alarm (970). If not, the method ends.

An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) may implement the imageprocessing code on a limited tire data set is the reduction ofdevelopment and testing costs. The image processing code can identifytire type by a DOT code and reference a tread and training set. It isunnecessary to recognize every tire tread manufactured, or every tirecode, DOT code or International Organization for Standardization metrictire code. The OEM can process a limited image defect library trainingset capable of recognizing tire wear and potentially dangerous tireconditions wherein a display 130 could alert the vehicle operator. Inone aspect, optical character recognition (OCR) methods recognize tirecodes using three-dimensional imaging and edge detection, solvingproblems recognizing DOT codes having same black lettering, text.

An additional aspect comprises the image recognition of tire codes foraccessing manufacture recalls listed in online databases. Themanufacture recall may trigger display warnings to replace tires. Accessto the manufacture recalls database may comprise a network connectionfor daily checking. The IPHWCU and/or the OBD may log complianceverification to non-volatile memory for servicing and insurance policycompliance. An additional aspect is the recognition of date tire codesfor expiration dates. Industry and safety standards define tire agingand tire replacement. Date codes can trigger display warnings and theIPHWCU and/or the OBD may save the information to non-volatile memoryfor servicing and insurance policy compliance. Additionally, documentingtire safety inspections may provide legal protection in the event of alawsuit and the shielding of vehicle owners from frivolous lawsuits. Insome cases of the invention, network storage may further include one ormore data repositories storing information associated with one or morevehicles. Vehicle the data storage 122 may include an insuranceinformation data repository, a tire defect diagnostic code datarepository, and/or other data repositories. For example, the insuranceinformation data repository may store information corresponding to oneor more insurance policies (e.g., vehicle insurance policies, etc.) suchas a policy identifier, a name of one or more insured parties associatedwith a vehicle, an address associated with the one or more insuredparties, one or more vehicle identifiers associated with the insuredindividual(s), preferences information, a policy type (e.g., a personalinsurance policy, a commercial insurance policy), and/or the like.

Referring now to FIG. 10 shows a flowchart illustrating a calibrationprocess 1000. The calibration process starts at step 1002 by identifyinga (0, 0, 0) point for (x, y, z) coordinates of the real space. At step1004, a first camera with the location (0, 0, 0) in its field of view iscalibrated. More details of camera calibration are presented earlier inthis application. At step 1006, a next camera with overlapping field ofview with the first camera is calibrated. At step 1008, it is checkedwhether there are more cameras to calibrate. The process is repeated atstep 1006 until all cameras are calibrated. In a next process step 1010,a tire subject is introduced in the real space to identify conjugatepairs of corresponding points between cameras with overlapping fields ofview. Some details of this process are described above. The process isrepeated for every pair of overlapping cameras at step 1012. The processends if there are no more cameras at step 1014.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: at least one onboardstereoscopic imaging unit (SIU) mounted for each vehicle tire,configured to couple with a vehicle tire and operative to capture aplurality of three-dimensional tire tread image pairs, a plurality ofthree-dimensional outer tire sidewall image pairs, and a plurality ofthree-dimensional inner tire sidewall image pairs; an image processingcode operative to process the plurality of three-dimensional tire treadimage pairs, the plurality of three-dimensional outer tire sidewallimage pairs, and the plurality of three-dimensional inner tire sidewallimage pairs for a tire inspection and a detection of tire conditiondefects; at least one image processor and hardware control unit (IPHWCU)operative to store and run the image processing code; a programinstruction code operative to run the IPHWCU and host the imageprocessing code, wherein the program instruction code provides hardwarecircuit interfaces drivers to communicate with the SIU and otherinterface circuits; a physical transmission media operative to couplewith the at least one SIU on a first distal end and operative to couplewith the at least one IPHWCU on a second distal end for transmittingimage pairs; and a code configured to execute a service request upon thedetection of tire condition defects, wherein the service requesttriggers a tire maintenance operation for a vehicle.
 2. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising an accelerometer configured totrigger the IPHWCU to capture image pairs upon measuring a G-force abovea substantial threshold when hitting an object capable of damagingtires, wherein the IPHWCU captures a plurality of three-dimensional tiretread image pairs, a plurality of three-dimensional outer tire sidewallimage pairs and a plurality of three-dimensional inner tire sidewallimage pairs to inspect tires for damage using a tire tread depth as apercentage consisting of: (1) eight millimeter mm depth represents a newtire; (2) seven mm depth shows substantially a 15% worn tire; (3) six mmdepth shows a 30% worn tire; (4) five mm depth shows substantially a 50%worn tire; (5) four mm depth shows substantially a 60% worn tire; (6)three mm depth shows substantially an 80% worn tire; (7) two mm depthshows substantially a 95% worn tire; and (8) a 1.6 mm depth shows a 100%worn tire.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle isan autonomous self-driving vehicle.
 4. The apparatus according to claim3, further comprising a 5G radio frequency (RF) communications unitcoupled with said at least one image processor and hardware control unitand operative to communicate with an external network for vehicleinsurance compliance.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, furthercomprising a camera lighting device operative to couple with said atleast one stereoscopic imaging unit SIU for illuminating vehicle tiretreads and tire sidewalls; non-volatile memory configured to store thetire inspection and the detection of tire condition defects; thestereoscopic imaging unit SIU uses CMOS image sensors; and a powersupply circuitry supplying direct-current (DC) voltage from a vehiclebattery operative to power said apparatus.
 6. The apparatus according toclaim 5, further comprising a display configured to execute a servicerequest, wherein the service request triggers a vehicle tire maintenanceoperation.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising anIP67 water resistance rating and an operating temperature rangesubstantially between −40° C. to 125° C.
 8. A method of imaging andinspection of vehicle tire treads and sidewalls comprising the steps of:capturing an outer sidewall as a first three-dimensional image pair andoperative to transfer the first three-dimensional image pair to at leastone image processor and hardware control unit (IPHWCU); capturing aninner sidewall as a second three-dimensional image pair and operative totransfer the second three-dimensional image pair to at least one IPHWCU;capturing a tread as a third three-dimensional image pair and operativeto transfer the third three-dimensional image pair to at least oneIPHWCU; processing said first three-dimensional image pair, said secondthree-dimensional image pair and said third three-dimensional image pairin at least one IPHWCU utilizing image processing software forinspecting tires; detecting tire condition defects in said firstthree-dimensional image pair, said three-dimensional second image pairand said third three-dimensional image pair; recording a tire statusinformation to a non-volatile memory configured to store a tireinspection and a detection of tire condition defects data; andtriggering a service request for a tire maintenance service for avehicle.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:communicating to a vehicle display tire status information; anddisplaying tire status information for a vehicle safety compliance. 10.The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of: recording thetire status information to a non-volatile memory configured to store atire inspection and a detection of tire condition defects data for aninsurance compliance policy and as a defense against legal actions. 11.The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of: capturing animage comprising a sidewall tire date of tire (DOT) code; checking theDOT code for a manufacturer tire recall database via a networkconnection; alerting a vehicle display of the manufacturer tire recall;displaying warning message of the manufacturer tire recall; and savingthe manufacturer tire recall information in non-volatile memory.
 12. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising the steps of; capturing a sidewalltire code; checking a tire date code from a manufacturer tire database;determining if said tire date code is expired; displaying warningmessage; and saving said tire date code and tire age information innon-volatile memory.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising thestep of: detecting one-side wear condition triggers a display messagefor a vehicle alignment, springs, and ball joints service warning. 14.The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of: detecting a flatspot wear condition triggers a display message for a check brakes andreplace tire warning.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising thestep of: detecting a cupped wear condition triggers a display messagefor a worn shock absorber and a faulty suspension system warning. 16.The method of claim 15, wherein the vehicle is from a leasing fleet andthe vehicle transmits tire status information to a network as acomponent of a vehicle fleet management procedure for a safety andinsurance compliance inspection.
 17. The method of claim 8, wherein thevehicle is an autonomous self-driving vehicle.
 18. The method of claim17, wherein the autonomous self-driving vehicle transmits tire statusinformation to a network as a component of a vehicle fleet managementprocedure.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the autonomousself-driving vehicle must pass a safety compliance inspection beforedriving and receive an insurance compliance approval to proceed.
 20. Themethod according to claim 8, wherein triggering a service request isusing a 5G radio frequency (RF) communications network service.